Untouchable
by Radiance Within
Summary: He wasn't kind. He was just respectful. After all, he was Rikkai's famed Gentleman. And even after the realization that we were a lot alike, I wasn't fazed by the fact that he would choose his fans over our friendship. He's just Yagyuu Hiroshi.  TEMP. HIATUS
1. Chapter 1: The Gentleman

**Summary: **He wasn't kind. He was just respectful. After all, he was Rikkai's famed Gentleman. And even after the realization that we were a lot alike, I wasn't fazed by the fact that he would choose his fans over our friendship. He's just Yagyuu Hiroshi.

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Prince of Tennis characters.**

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><p>They first met in the school's library, accidentally reaching out for the same copy of the same exact book. Kiseki recognized him immediately but she was certain he didn't know her. However, she was taken aback when he smiled politely and greeted her, "Shimizu-san, I didn't realize you would be in here."<p>

He had bowed his head in a proper manner and generously let her take the only copy of the book. She thanked him respectfully as she bowed her own head and walked away knowing they were bound not to have another interaction again.

They met once more in cram school, when they had accidentally reached out for the same seat - the center seat of the first front row. Chuckling at the repetitiveness of such events, he took a seat next to her and greeted her once more.

"I didn't realize you went to cram school either, Shimizu-san."

Kiseki smiled as she set her books down gently on her desk. "The same to you, Yagyuu-san. It seems we have more in common than I originally thought."

"Is that so? I did not think our interests would be that different. It seems to me, you are a quite a role-model student." Yagyuu replied, setting down his own books.

Kiseki gave him a curious glance. "Excuse me if this offends you, but did you just compliment yourself?"

"How so?" Yagyuu answered.

Kiseki bit her lip and then explained, "Well - you were comparing our interests as alike. And afterwards, you call me a role-model student. In so, you also called yourself a role-model student which I found was a compliment you indirectly gave yourself."

"You're quite the analyst." Yagyuu smiled, pushing his glasses up.

Kiseki glanced down, blood rushing to her face. "I wouldn't call myself that, particularly. Even though I must agree now, we do have a lot of same interests."

"Indeed. It's refreshing for me to see a junior high girl who cares for her intellect as much as I do." Yagyuu responded.

Kiseki finally looked up. "But you care for sports as well, don't you Yagyuu-san? Particularly, tennis."

"And golf as well. But yes, I take much pride in being a part of our school's tennis team." Yagyuu agreed, as he slowly took out a freshly sharpened pencil and a newly bought pen.

Kiseki, now curious, did not abort the flurry of questions. "Is it true that winning is the only thing you have in mind?"

"Winning is the most important part, yes. I don't suppose fun tennis exists in competitive teams such as ours." Yagyuu mused.

Kiseki looked down at her own desk. "But what's the point of playing a sport, if you do not enjoy it?"

"So you disagree with our principles?"

Kiseki smiled. "Quite frankly, yes."

"Hmm. Even if that's the case, it seems you play tennis as well." Yagyuu observed.

Kiseki took out her own set of writing utensils. "I have been playing since the start of junior high. I was once a member of the girl's tennis club."

"Why did you quit?" He asked, curiously staring at her.

Kiseki looked down once more and mumbled uncharacteristically, "Shoko Tokiwa doesn't agree. And neither does Naomi Hayashi..."

"Could you please repeat that?" Yagyuu leaned in, unsure of what she had just said.

Kiseki looked up and shook her head frantically along with her arms. "Uh..It's nothing, really. I just didn't feel comfortable being a part of that particular club."

"Something tells me you're not telling the truth." Yagyuu told her bluntly, crossing his arms as other students seated themselves noisily.

Kiseki averted his gaze. "Truly, Yagyuu-san. My issues with the tennis club does not have that big of an importance."

"Just being curious." He replied, pushing his glasses up in instinct.

Kiseki smiled. "Curiosity killed the cat."

"I wasn't aware I was a cat." He retorted wittily, smiling as well.

She had a sudden urge to roll her eyes. "Witty, aren't you?"

"My hats goes off to you as well, Shimizu-san." Yagyuu responded, as the class silenced when the commanding voices of the tutors interrupted the chatting noises.

Kiseki turned one last time towards Yagyuu. "Excuse my curiosity - but are you here for a remedial class?"

"No. I come here to take more advanced courses, I take it you have the same case." Yagyuu said.

Kiseki nodded. "You are much more than I expected, Yagyuu-san. I suppose, my hat goes off to you as well."

"Thank you kindly."

Kiseki couldn't help but smile at this answer as her tutor came over to the empty seat beside hers and started explaining today's lesson.

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><p>"Domo arigatou gozaimasu." Kiseki bowed her head as her tutor got up to pack her own things.<p>

Her tutor smiled. "You're most welcome, Kiseki-chan. It's good there are still hard-working diligent students like yourself here."

"There are more diligent students than me." Kiseki waved the compliment away as she bowed her head again as her tutor nodded and left.

Yagyuu Hiroshi and his tutor had left for the chemistry classroom an hour ago and Kiseki predicted he wouldn't be coming back in the original room. She felt a bit of disappointment. There was no shame in admitting that she enjoyed talking with him.

It was pleasant to have a normal conversation with another Rikkaidai student besides her friends. Packing up her own things, Kiseki exited the cram school building, wrapping her arms around herself as a cold chill blew by.

She turned on her phone and pocketed it as she reached out into her bag for her cardigan. Quickly putting on, as she had just realized how dark it was already, Kiseki swung her bag around her shoulders and swiftly walked in an irregularly fast pace.

"Shimizu-san!" A voice called out from behind her, as the slight panting of heavy breathing reached the girl.

Kiseki turned only to be met by a rosy-cheeked Yagyuu who looked down at her, smiling. "It wouldn't be proper to let you walk home by yourself this late at night."

"Oh. I don't really want to be a bother." Kiseki inclined her head.

Yagyuu shifted to her side. "We are walking towards the same direction, so it's no real bother."

"Arigatou gozaimasu." Kiseki bowed again before meeting his gaze.

The both of them began walking at a relatively slow pace when Yagyuu started the conversation, "You and your friends, Shimizu-san - is your group a club?"

"Oh, no. We're merely a close group of friends, that's all. It's just that...I suppose, it's difficult for us to socialize with other students after being so close to each other." Kiseki explained, fiddling with her fingers.

Yagyuu nodded. "You do seem close. Excuse my curiosity, but why is it that you seem much more assertive outside of school?"

"What exactly do you mean?" She asked him, slightly confused.

Yagyuu looked forward. "You're part of the student council and yet you rarely ever speak at meetings."

"I guess I just don't feel as comfortable around people as I am with my friends." She shrugged, unsure of the answer as well.

Yagyuu frowned. "You seem quite comfortable with me."

"I feel like you understand my situation." Kiseki answered.

Yagyuu smiled. "So are we friends then, Shimizu-san?"

"I suppose we are, Yagyuu-san." They stopped at a red light. Kiseki quietly reached out for the button, as Yagyuu nodded in agreement.

He swung his own bag around his shoulders and crossed his arms. "Funny. I find you the most outgoing of your bunch."

"We're not the most sociable people." Kiseki told him, unashamed.

Yagyuu's brow furrowed. "But I feel that if you would initiate interaction with others, you would be extremely likeable."

"Huh. My public image was never that important to me." Kiseki bluntly said as the light turned green and the two continued walking.

Yagyuu smiled. "That's quite admirable."

"I'm glad you think so. Especially for a popular tennis regular - I didn't think you'd understand that so easily." Kiseki managed a relieved sigh, then quickly added, "Of course I don't mean to generalize all the tennis regulars."

Yagyuu chuckled lightly. "We may be popular, Shimizu-san, but I assure you - we are not shallow."

"I didn't mean for you think that way." She answered, looking down.

Yagyuu pushed his glasses up. "I know you didn't. I was merely relieving you of any other broad generalizations that may be circulating your mind."

"Hm. I suppose you have given me a more positive opinion of the tennis regulars." Kiseki bit her lip, unable to restrain her words.

Yagyuu looked taken aback. "You had a negative opinion before?"

"More like neutral. From afar, you seemed a bit cocky and overconfident. But you had a good reason to be, I guess." Kiseki explained, once more fiddling with her fingers.

Yagyuu's face lightened. "I can see why you would think of us that way. But all of us are just normal junior high students, despite our achievements."

"That's nice to hear." Kiseki stopped, as she realized that they were right in front of her house.

Yagyuu looked up and seemed to realize the same thing. He smiled and inclined his head, "See you at school then, Shimizu-san."

"You as well, Yagyuu-san. Thank you again." She bowed as she unlocked the door and went inside, raising a hand in the form of goodbye as he nodded and disappeared towards the next block.

Kiseki smiled as she closed the door behind her, only to be greeted by a chorus of "welcome back!" She turned around and grinned even wider at the sight of her younger twin sisters waving enthusiastically from the couch, her young toddler brother who was playing with his newly-bought car toy, her bored-looking older brother getting lectured by her other older sister and her parents in the kitchen, making dinner.

She set her bag down on the couch and picked up her little brother from the carpeted floor. "Ne, Kenji - how's your new car?" Kiseki picked up the car and rolled it around the sofa as he chased after it in childlike happiness.

"Heh. So how was cram school, nerdy little sister?" Her older brother clambered down onto the couch next to her, ruffled up her hair, then turned the television on.

Kiseki crossed her arms and scowled as her other older sister interrupted. "Better to be a nerd than a completely brainless fool, Daiki."

At this, the older brother frowned in irritation and ignored his peeved older sister who had taken two hours of her free time to tutor him with no avail.

"I think got Fuyumi-nee-chan you on that one, Daiki." Kiseki nudged her older brother, who rolled his eyes in response and shoved her playfully.

Sighing, Kiseki picked up her bag and started towards the kitchen when one of her sisters jumped in her way and asked loudly, "So who was that boy, Kiseki-chan? Your secret boyfriend?"

"What boy?" Fuyumi yelled out, grabbing the irritated junior high-schooler by the shoulders and gave her a long stare.

From the kitchen, their mother made their way into the living room. "There's a boy?" She asked Kiseki teasingly, with a knowing smile.

With no hesitation, Kiseki face-palmed herself and sighed. "I'm going upstairs." She told her noisy family who was now debating about the poor victimized Yagyuu Hiroshi.

"You're not gonna escape this torture so easily, Kiseki." Her older brother called out from the sofa and Kiseki had the sudden urge to throw something at his grinning sadistic face.

She ignored him and ran towards her room in a speed she didn't know she was possible of attaining. Dropping her bag softly on the side of bed, Kiseki lied down on her bed and smiled.

"Yagyuu Hiroshi, huh?"

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><p>I enjoy writing about Kiseki. I don't why - she's very cheerful among her friends and yet I always find an urge to write about her in a more mature persona. In actuality, Kiseki's story was supposed to be written before Naomi but I found a sudden inspiration to write the beginning chapter of <span>Faith<span> before I found inspiration to write this one.

Hopefully, you, the reader will enjoy this story. I will try my best to keep every single canon character in character - I would not want to disappoint Takeshi Konomi-sensei by doing otherwise.

Thanks!

_Radiance Within_


	2. Chapter 2: Miracle

**Summary: **He wasn't kind. He was just respectful. After all, he was Rikkai's famed Gentleman. And even after the realization that we were a lot alike, I wasn't fazed by the fact that he would choose his fans over our friendship. He's just Yagyuu Hiroshi.

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Prince of Tennis characters. **

This fanfiction is for the following readers who have favorited this particular story: **ca99oline, celtic27fionn, ****Chillybean, GeneXKobato, Just Wait and See, Princess Alice Rose, Raine Amorial, strawbewii.**

This chapter is for the following readers who have alerted this particular story: **celtic27fionn, Happy-Valley, livingtodream, Pig the Cat, Princess Alice Rose, xXRandomnessPrevailsXx, xXTemariXx.**

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><p>Kiseki tapped the dark-colored wood that the oblong-shaped table was carved from. Most of the council had yet to arrive, and being the punctual student that she took pride in being - Kiseki had came in thirty minutes early. Sometimes being too punctual set her to a disadvantage.<p>

The door swung open and Kiseki instinctively turned to look. It was the 2nd year representative from Class D. He greeted her with a simple head nod, and she awkwardly returned it. Kiseki never did understand why simply saying, "Genki desuka?(1)" or "Konnichiwa(2)" would cause too much trouble. The room which had firstly been only silent had become teeming with awkwardness.

In so, Kiseki initiated a conversation. "Genki desuka?" She asked the representative with a smile. He had been staring deeply into a month-old pamphlet (Kiseki wondered if that was just a pitiful attempt to escape the awkward silence between them) and turned to look up.

"Fine, thank you." He went back to reading the pamphlet and Kiseki resisted the urge to scowl.

She tapped the table with her hands, not caring for the disrupting and insensible sounds she was making. "I never did catch your name." Kiseki told the other representative, while peeking at the yellow-and-black school clock behind him.

"It's Hamada Kyousuke." He busied himself back to reading the pamphlet which Kiseki pointed out to herself, contained a mere 500 words at the most.

Kiseki made a face. "_Aish, how rude." _She thought to herself before opening her bag rather loudly and taking out a book of hers, not some silly old outdated pamphlet from the start of the school year. She began to read and the ticking of the clock gradually became louder. Kiseki had lost herself in a couple of chapters when the door clattered open once more.

Holding back a relieved sigh, she turned around and from her peripheral, saw the 2nd year rep glance over at the new person as well. It was Yagyuu Hiroshi from Class A. He pushed his glasses up (A/N: similar to that of Inui Sadaharu when saying, "Ii data.") and gave Kiseki a meek smile.

Seating himself, he greeted her. "Konnichiwa, Shimizu-san."

"Konnichiwa." Kiseki answered, glad for the first time that she was making contact with a tennis regular. They were on friendly terms, something that she secretly was relieved of. Kiseki knew that some of the regular's fangirls could be ruthless to the ones who disliked or hated the regulars, and she tried to keep away from any sort of fighting may it be verbal or physical.

Hamada Kyousuke, the representative who had came in after Kiseki, turned away from the pamphlet and warmly greeted Yagyuu. "Genki desuka, Yagyuu-san?"

_"What a kiss-up."_ Kiseki abstained from rolling her eyes, and continued hiding behind her reading book. Everyone knew that the easiest way up the social pyramid was to be friendly with the tennis regulars. After all, they were the legendary tennis team that had won the Nationals twice in a row and insinuated by the latest results, seems to also be taking it this year as well.

Yagyuu nodded his head as a gesture. "I'm fine, thank you...Hamada-san?" He hesitantly asked, as if unsure of what the 2nd year's name was. Kiseki was beside herself, inwardly laughing at Hamada's pitiful expression almost comparable to that of a puppy who had just gotten kicked by it's master.

She looked up and shared a glance at Yagyuu, who shifted his glasses again and audibly cleared his throat. Kiseki smiled and returned back to her book. She could've sworn a grin made it's way across his face as well.

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><p>"So, in three months time - we must start preparing for the festival. But other than that, there are no other major events we must take important note of. Any questions?" The elected school president looked around the small meeting room, and barely any other council members met his gaze.<p>

Yagyuu cleared his throat (the second time Kiseki had heard him do so, since before the meeting) and all eyes turned to him. "This is not relevant to the current topic, but I've observed some prejudice and harassment towards the underclassmen. As class representatives, President, do you agree that we should do something about this?"

Kiseki's eyebrows furrowed. She has never seen such incidents before.

"Yagyuu-san, you know very well that personal matters between students are things we, as official representatives, are not allowed to delve into." The president answered him, as murmuring ensued throughout the council.

Kiseki narrowed her eyes and her mouth settled into a deep frown but decided not to say anything against it. She merely looked down at her hands and inwardly sighed.

"I understand what you are trying to say, Yagyuu-san. However, the President is right. There might be a legitimate reason towards these incidents." Another representative spoke up. Yagyuu did not answer but merely shifted his glasses.

Others of the council began slightly agreeing.

"Shimizu-san, what is your opinion?" Yagyuu asked her. He was posed in a manner of composure and maturity. The council turned towards her.

Kiseki swiftly looked up and her eyes widened. "Eh?"

"What is your opinion about the matter?" Yagyuu repeated.

Kiseki's eyes moved down towards the table and she took a slightly shaky deep breath. "Even if there might be a legitimate reason behind these incidences, it is not right to settle the issue through harassment. As class representatives, other students look to us as models of what is right and what is just. Imagine if a sibling or close friend of yours was the one being harassed by these upperclassmen - would you move along and ignore it? What is just is just and what is wrong. As people with right judgement, we clearly know what we must do."

She blinked. Pairs of eyes blinked back at her. She swallowed and held back a breath then exhaled back again.

"I mean...um..." Kiseki started back again, her face beet red and was inwardly dying with embarrassment, as the President held up a hand to stop her.

He stared at her and nodded. "We understand. Therefore," The President looked back at Yagyuu, "We will act against these matters but only in a calm and peaceful manner." Yagyuu answered with a nod and he moved his gaze slightly towards Kiseki who blushed in response.

"Then so, meeting adjourned." The president folded back the planner he used to keep track of the things he mentions in the meetings as the council members exited the room. Another 3rd year representative clapped Kiseki on the back, surprising her and nodded at her as a gesture. Kiseki only responded with a shy smile.

Hamada, the 2nd year representative from before, meekly met her gaze and gave her a small awkward grin before leaving and Kiseki didn't have time to return the smile as he exited rather quickly.

"Shimizu-san, I thank you for your insight." The president told her before she left the room. She could only incline her head before leaving. Closing the door behind her, Kiseki turned only to be met by a smiling Yagyuu. She restrained herself from slamming him with inappropriate words. After all, it was his fault that she had to answer the question in the first place.

Instead, she kept her cool and walked on but immediately, she realized that Yagyuu was keeping in step with her. Kiseki observed that his legs were considerably longer than hers since he stood at 5 feet and 9 inches, whereas she was a mere 5 feet and 3 inches.

"And your reasons behind directing their attention to me was?" Kiseki stopped, and asked him sighing. It was hard for her to stay mad at someone for too long. Besides, being angry was not a pleasant feeling.

Yagyuu smiled. "I realized we shared the same opinion. I just thought that you would be able to express better than I could have, and you obviously did."

"I was really red, wasn't I?" Kiseki asked him, scratching the back of her head.

Yagyuu chuckled. "Surely, Shimizu-san, trivial things such as appearance do not bother you too much."

"It's a girl's instinct, sorry." She sheepishly grinned as they clambered down the first set of stairs. The meeting room was on the 2nd floor, so the school exit wasn't too much of a walk.

"Shimizu-san, you are aware that your first name means - " Yagyuu began as Kiseki chuckled.

She stretched her arms out and stopped him, "Miracle. I'm not a foreigner, Yagyuu-san."

"Why is that?" Yagyuu asked her curiously.

Kiseki looked at him, her head titled towards the side a bit as they neared the exit. "I was a premature child. The doctors said I would not live. They also said that if I did be able to survive, I would be the last my parents would produce. But I did survive, and after me came three younger ones. So my parents named me, Kiseki. A miracle."

"You don't care for the eccentricity of it?" Yagyuu wondered.

Kiseki chuckled again. "I consider it a blessing, actually. Every time someone would say my name, I would constantly be reminded of how much I meant to my parents and my family. Being considered a miracle, is something I take pride in being."

"Then, Shimizu-san, may I call you by your first name?"

Kiseki stopped. "Eh?"

"I'm certain you heard correctly." Yagyuu answered.

Kiseki bit her lip and foolishly grinned. "We've only actually known each other for a few days - isn't that rushing it a bit too much?" She let out a small chuckle.

"It was but a mere suggestion." Yagyuu replied, his voice still and passive.

Kiseki looked down and a silence ensued between the two of them as they passed through the gates and began walking their separate ways. "Yagyuu-san?" She called out, as he started turning towards his direction. He turned towards her and raised an eyebrow.

"Thank you." She told him.

Yagyuu's eyebrow went up even higher. "For what?"

"Just...Thank you." Kiseki inclined her head before rushing off towards the direction of her house. She was not able to catch the confused expression on the regular's face as well as the gentle smile slowly making it's way across his face.

She was about a half-a-block away when Kiseki stopped and rested her back on the stone wall that stretched until the end of the block. She smiled and whispered to the wind what she had meant to say to the confused Yagyuu, "For bringing out the best in me."

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><p>"Moshi-moshi?" Kiseki had came home a couple of hours ago, and had just finished a loud dinner which included the following: her toddler brother slapping their mother with his newly-bought baby spoon, her older sister spilling red juice over her older brother's new white shorts (of which he had to endure teasing from all the females of the household about his "first monthly gift"), and their father coming home with a two large pineapples in which Kiseki's smart-aleck younger sisters decided they would try to step on - resulting in tears and scolding.<p>

By the time Kiseki had arrived at her room, she threw herself on the bed and let out an uncivilized groan - inwardly cursing her insane family. Maybe it wasn't a miracle to have three younger siblings born after all. Just five minutes later, her phone rang and an unknown caller ID showed on the screen.

"Hey." A slightly-familiar voice answered.

Kiseki's brow furrowed and a pause between the two began to turn into a pregnant silence.

"Wow, Kiseki. Two years of separation, and you can't remember my voice anymore?" A chuckle sounded from the other line as Kiseki was hit with the realization.

She squealed and gasped out, "Fumika?"

"Yes, this is her." The voice responded in a bored tone.

Fumika Hitomi and her twin Sachiko Hitomi(3) currently lived in Osaka, where Kiseki and her obnoxiously loud family had moved from two years ago. The twins were born in the same hospital, as well as on the same day as Kiseki, much to the three's surprise. They jokingly referred to themselves as triplets despite the fact that the Hitomi twins had lighter colored hair, different colored eyes and were considerably taller than Kiseki.

Kiseki, much like Naomi and Aeha from her current "group", was set to attend a different middle school. Shitenhouji Chuu, in fact, which was the school that Fumika was currently attending. Kiseki remembered Fumika as a silly little girl who was curious about everything she saw and Sachiko as the twin who was much more composed and mature, although still cheerful and fun-natured. According to Fumika, however, it seems their attitudes have switched much to Kiseki's surprise.

For two years, none of them found the time to visit each other and had completely lost contact up until this current phone call. Kiseki was obviously, pleasantly surprised. Fumika, on the other hand, called to bear ill news. Literally. Her father and Kiseki's father had been friends since their 2nd year of high school and had closely been acquainted since. Because of that, Kiseki knew her father would not be pleased about this new piece of information.

Fumika's father had been sent to the ICU for what seemed to be chest pains at first, but had turned out to be a gradual heart attack. Kiseki remembered that Fumika's father was a very sickly person, although very healthy-looking. He had diabetes long before she even knew who he was and his side of the family had a history of heart failure. Kiseki's father being a doctor, he had mentioned to her once that his friend would not live as long as a normal human would be capable of.

After a few minutes, Fumika bid Kiseki good-bye after Kiseki promised to keep Fumika's father in her prayers. As far as Kiseki could remember, Fumika's father always had these occasional heart attacks and they've happened so frequently that the family have gotten used to them. But this time, the doctors had said it might be different. Even though Fumika tried to keep Kiseki humored and optimistic, Kiseki could sense that deep inside - her friend was worried, anxious, and frightened.

Kiseki had to admit that she had no experience with the death of loved ones. Even so, Fumika's father had been a second dad to her. Whenever he'd take out his own children to carnivals or amusement parks - he would never forget to include her. When her parents would be at work while she was sick in bed, it was the Hitomi's who would unconditionally take care of her.

He was a bright, cheerful person to be around. Kiseki felt tears prick her eyes as nostalgic memories crept up from the past.

"They told me to turn my phone off, so I have to go. They say t-to get ready, b-because he m-m-might not even last the night." were Fumika's last words to her friend. Kiseki could hear tears amidst her words.

_It was so sudden._ Kiseki had expected a prank call from Tanaka perhaps, or maybe Ranawa's little sister asking her for help since Ranawa was currently sick with the flu. Kiseki placed her phone down on the table and sighed.

"Life's too fleeting to take for granted." She sighed and looked up. Sighing, she decided that she'll break the news later on to her father who was now enjoying a cup of coffee, watching a movie in the den with his wife. Kiseki always hated saying something that causes people hurt, anxiousness, and worry although sometimes saying so is for the better. Realizing that this news was too important to delay, Kiseki clambered down the stairs and cleared her throat as her parents faced her.

The rest of the family were either in their bedrooms or to the toddler's case, sitting on his mother's lap. Kiseki sat down on an armchair as her parents paused the screen.

"Otou-san...I'm sure you remember Ikutsu Hitomi." Kiseki took a deep breath.

Her father nodded and Kiseki began retelling Fumika's story. She watched her father's face fell as well as her mother's. Their anguished expressions tore Kiseki apart on the inside as she explained to them that the Hitomi's were incapable of calling at the moment since the nurses had told Fumika to turn her phone off.

Kiseki finished her homework an hour later, a bit mindless as her mind kept going back to her conversation with Fumika. For two years, they have not spoken and the one time they did - it was to bring bad news. It wasn't right and Kiseki felt frustrated.

She went to sleep that night, anxious and worried. The next morning, she awoke. Her phone was lit up and Kiseki reluctantly took it and opened a text message from Fumika. For a split second, she felt like her breath was taken away by worry. Two words broke her heart.

**_He's gone._**

* * *

><p>"Kiseki." The said girl did not respond.<p>

"Kiseki!" Tanaka cried out more forcefully.

This finally shoved the sullen girl out of her spell and Kiseki looked up, stammering, "W-what?" Her best friend, Tanaka Yoshida sighed and crossed her arms. Her cool blue eyes analyzed Kiseki slowly, then with a hesitant tone, she asked. "What's the matter?"

Kiseki blinked, staring at four worrisome pair of eyes.

"You've been like this all day." Shoko, one of the more reasonable ones of the group, told her sighing. Her expression showed that she was clearly worried. "You're obviously not sick and you said got a perfect score on all your recent test and quizzes." Her dark black eyes stared into Kiseki's green ones.

Kiseki sighed as well. "It's about my childhood friend's father from Osaka."

"Oh, right! You used to live in Osaka!" Naomi brightly said, absent-minded that she was. Even though she was the "leader" of the bunch, as well as the most cheerful - her free-spirited personality came along with carelessness and forgetfulness.

Kiseki nodded. "Her father passed away last night."

There was a pregnant pause afterwards as Kiseki sighed and poked her ramen noodles with her chopstick.

"I'm sorry." Aeha timidly responded. As Naomi's younger sister, Aeha was comparably more organized, more artistic and musically-inclined, and less athletic of the two.

Kiseki responded with a meek smile. "It was so sudden." She proceeded to tell them about the phone call last night and their expressions were a mix of sympathetic and shocked. Kiseki sighed, inwardly thinking that the past events were just plain unfair. Shouldn't it be criminals, mad men, killers who deserve death rather than good men with families to live for?

It just wasn't fair.

"Everything happens for a reason." Naomi told her philosophically, earning the attention of the other three who had fell silent after Kiseki ended explaining.

Kiseki raised an eyebrow.

"Y'know - behind every bad, is a good. After the rain is always a rainbow. Right?" Naomi said, sheepishly grinning as Tanaka and Shoko stared at her blankly. Kiseki's eyebrow rose higher. Aeha smiled just as awkwardly as her sister, opening her drawing pad and sketching something.

Tanaka broke the silence by letting out a small chuckle. "Somebody was gonna say that anyways. Might as well let it be Naomi." She grinned back at their proclaimed "leader" who scratched the back of her head in an embarrassed manner.

"You really think so?" Kiseki curiously asked.

Naomi nodded. "When I first moved to Kanagawa, I seriously thought it was the most horrible thing that has ever happened to me. Then I tripped over Shoko's softball mitt and the rest was history." She was answered by laughter as Kiseki chuckled as well.

"Is that seriously how you guys met?" Tanaka asked with a slight hint of disbelief.

Aeha confirmed by nodding and saying, "It's a true story. Naomi-nee-san came home that day saying she made two new friends by tripping over someone's mitt. Everyone didn't believe at her first, then Ranawa and Shoko visited and confirmed it themselves." Afterwards, Aeha continued to sketch silently on her drawing pad.

"Yeah. I made her buy me a new one even though it wasn't even damaged." Shoko sighed and stretched back, remembering past pleasant memories.

Naomi chuckled, her green eyes twinkling. "I thought I was such a big softball hot-shot back then. Then, Shoko here hit a home-run and shattered my self-esteem to pieces."

"You should've seen your face!" Shoko laughed, pointing at Naomi and made an exaggerated jaw-falling face to portray Naomi's reaction.

And for the rest of lunch, Kiseki forgot her worries and her anxiousness and her sadness. Maybe, Naomi was right. She was convinced for a moment that a rainbow will always come after each rain.

* * *

><p>"See you tomorrow!" Tanaka, Shoko, Naomi waved Kiseki good-bye as she waved back and opened the front door of her eerily quiet home.<p>

Suddenly, Aeha cried out, "Waitwaitwait!" She opened her school bag and ripped out a piece of a paper from her drawing pad and handed it to Kiseki. Aeha winked and gave her a mischievousness grin. "I hope each time you see this, it'll remind you. Okay?" Aeha told her sempai with a whisper then ran back.

Kiseki looked back at the waving group and looked at the piece of paper resting on her hands. She heard Naomi ask her younger sister, "What was that?" Kiseki didn't hear the answer as she closed her door behind her and made her way into her room.

Her mother had left a note on the coffee table that she was out buying groceries with their youngest while Kiseki's father still had not come home from work. Her younger twin sisters had dance practice right after school, and they would not be coming home until later on in the afternoon. Kiseki's older siblings who attended Rikkaidai High School had a later ending time and so they weren't home either. In other words, everything was like how it always was.

Except back in Osaka, it wasn't.

Kiseki sighed as she opened the door to her room, and left it ajar. She dropped her school bag on her bed and unfolded Aeha's drawing. A grin slowly spread on Kiseki's face as she stared longer at the drawing. With a sudden rush, she changed out of her uniform and dressed herself with a pair of comfortable jeans, a white printed shirt under a warm blue cardigan and her slightly-dirtied white Converse. She grabbed her keys, her phone, and Aeha's drawing and placed them carefully into a small purse.

She quickly scrawled on a note: "**Went to the park. Be home at around 4:30. - Kiseki"** The park was a few minutes far. It was a noisy place to be on the weekends, but if you knew exactly where to go - there were a few secret spots nobody else knew about.

Kiseki made her way towards her secret place and sighed. It was a small clearing - the trees were in a complete circle. It was far from the main part of the park and she and her friends were certain that they were the only ones who knew about it.

She opened her purse and stared again at Aeha's drawing. It was a less-detailed pencil sketch of the Osaka skyline (how Aeha knew how it looked like was beyond Kiseki) with a flurry of clouds slowly fading away and several brightly-lit stars above the skyline. In an elegant cursive handwriting, Aeha wrote: **Without the dark, we would never see the stars.**

Kiseki smiled and sighed. How a second year can contain so much wisdom was something she would never able to understand. She took in a breath of air.

Suddenly, she heard the sounds of footsteps making it's way towards her clearing. Kiseki perked her ears, and wondered if any of her friends decided to come to the park too. But who emerged from the trees was definitely not Tanaka, Shoko, Naomi, Aeha, or Ranawa.

He was dressed in the black-and-yellow jersey that the whole of the Japanese tennis populace knew of.

"Shimizu-san." He nodded his head as if they were simply meeting glances at Rikkaidai.

Kiseki let go of the uneasiness and smiled. "Yagyuu-san."

* * *

><p>(1) "How are you?"<p>

(2) "Hello."

(3) These our other OC's that, like noted above, currently reside in Osaka. Since the votes are split on Seigaku and Shitenhouji and since I have already introduced two OC's from Seigaku in **The Tricks of Life**, I used Kiseki's connections whom I have established had also moved from somewhere else before going to Rikkai. If you had been an early reader, you would remember that I had titles and summaries for Fumika and Sachi's stories on my profile. They however, had been removed due to decision changes and editing.

So...I've decided to be a bit more consistent in my updates. Every week, I promise an update for a story of mine. This is probably the longest 2nd chapter for a story I've written. Hahaha. Well, read and review! They make an author very happy.

I love you guys! Stay safe and healthy! And don't forget your New Year Resolutions!(;

Love always,

**Radiance Within**


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